Chris Holt

Almen Abdi says Sheffield Wednesday have already shown that they are now a force to be reckoned with after last season’s push to the Play-Off Final at Wembley.

Though the Owls lost out to Hull City in the decider, their rise into the upper echelons caused people to sit up and take notice of the club again and now Abdi believes they can continue on that upward trajectory.

The former Watford star was part of the Hornets side, alongside Daniel Pudil and Fernando Forestieri, also denied a Premier League place by the odd goal when in 2013, when Crystal Palace came out on top in a tight affair. Two years later they were up automatically and according to Abdi, Wednesday are capable of quickly shrugging off that disappointment and making a drive towards the top flight for the first time since 2000.

“Wednesday showed last year what they can do be getting to the Play-Off final as Watford did three years ago and we lost it,” said Abdi.

“I’m sure they can learn from it and come back stronger like we did at Watford. We have a good team and we can definitely compete and hopefully we can compete for promotion.”

He added: “Everyone at the football club hopes we can get promoted directly but I think we will have a better idea of how we are going to do in a couple of weeks time. It is always hard to say where you are going to finish. I think we have a good team so hopefully we get off to a good start.